The Emmy-winning actress, who recently finished filming the third season of her Showtime spy thriller in Morocco, accentuated her new strawberry blond 'do with a red dress from Giambattista Valli, red coat and red Christian Louboutin pumps. Emphasis on, well, red.

The formerly blond star also attended a private reception and screening of "Homeland" in New York City. Her ginger costar Damian Lewis was also in attendance, along with Vogue editrix, Anna Wintour. No wonder Danes had to step up her game ...

Coincidentally, the 34-year-old mom kicked off her career as a much darker redhead for her breakout role on "My So-Called Life," and it was during that time that she first made an appearance on "The Late Show," she pointed out to Letterman, at age 16.

During her guest appearance, Danes explained how she and her husband, British actor Hugh Dancy, were starstruck upon meeting President Obama at the White House Correspondents Dinner before she started working on the series.

"He's just so magnetic and so charismatic," Danes raved. "Tom Cruise was in the room and as soon as [Obama] walked into the room, it just eclipsed everyone, every amazing star.

"So we went into fight or flight mode, 'OK we're gonna do this,'' she said. "So we find ourselves in front of the president and, I'm kind of on autopilot, and I say, 'Hello, um, Mr. President, I'm Claire Danes, it's so lovely to meet you.' And he said, 'Oh yes, Claire Danes, Claire, you're a fine actress.' And I say, well, you're a fine president.' And he said, you know, 'Well, you're a finer actress than I am president,' and I just thought ... really, just had no retort whatsoever, so I ran to the bar and had a very large shot of vodka."

Carrie Mathison may not have approved of that move, but it turns out Obama is a big fan of her drama -- so it seems as if all's well on the "Homeland" front.